Social anxiety, lack of confidence and shyness

Many of us lack confidence in certain circumstances, or feel apprehensive about meeting people or being in particular situations. This might be when we’re giving a speech, speaking to a group of people, going out a date with someone, or simply stating what we really think or feel.

I specialise in helping people overcome shyness and anxiety, and in helping them become much more confident in themselves and their own abilities.

I believe that for most of us, our natural state is one where we’re able to express ourselves confidently and feel at ease with who we are. The problem is that many of us have picked up unhelpful patterns of behaviour and ways of thinking (about ourselves, situations and other people). Often this has happened over many years, and these have become so ingrained that they now feel a natural part of who we are.

We become so used to being nervous, shy or lacking confidence in situations, that this becomes the normal state of affairs for us. If we can become aware of the patterns of thinking and behaviour that underpin our shyness and lack of confidence, we can challenge them and replace them by learning new, more positive ways of thinking, feeling and behaving.

My approach to confidence-building and overcoming social anxiety or shyness
I’ll help you to really understand how your thoughts, ways of thinking, and patterns of behaviour may be holding you back. For instance, maybe your pattern of thinking means that you feel that people around you are judging you and are critical of what you do, or you feel unable to achieve the things you want to because of a lack of confidence in your own abilities.

I’ll work with you to rapidly change any unhelpful ways of thinking, by exploring your current patterns of thinking. Many people have ‘negative’ automatic thoughts about certain situations, and these can play a major role in holding them back. We’ll look at your existing ‘automatic’ thoughts and feelings in situations that cause you problems. Once you truly understand these, we’ll use hypnosis to instil new automatic responses to those situations.

We’ll also use hypnosis, visualisation and relaxation techniques to help you practice being calm, relaxed and confident in situations that would previously have caused you stress and anxiety. By repeatedly practicing remaining calm in these situations, we can make being calm and relaxed your new ‘automatic’ response to situations you used to find difficult.

Feel free to get in touch to discuss how I can help you. I work with clients from across London and the South East, and home visits are also available for London-based clients. I also provide Skype sessions for people who aren’t able to see me face-to-face.